UN Participates in Egypt’s International Cooperation Forum

Egypt’s ministers of International Cooperation and Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr. Rania al-Mashat and Mohamed Shaker, review the preparations for Nowfi Program and the International Cooperation Forum (Ministry of International Cooperation)
Egypt’s ministers of International Cooperation and Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr. Rania al-Mashat and Mohamed Shaker, review the preparations for Nowfi Program and the International Cooperation Forum (Ministry of International Cooperation)
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UN Participates in Egypt’s International Cooperation Forum

Egypt’s ministers of International Cooperation and Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr. Rania al-Mashat and Mohamed Shaker, review the preparations for Nowfi Program and the International Cooperation Forum (Ministry of International Cooperation)
Egypt’s ministers of International Cooperation and Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr. Rania al-Mashat and Mohamed Shaker, review the preparations for Nowfi Program and the International Cooperation Forum (Ministry of International Cooperation)

The United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, will attend the second edition of the Egypt International Cooperation Forum, which is scheduled to be held on September 6 at the New Administrative Capital.

Amina will depart to Cairo on September 5 to attend the two-day event, which will be held as part of the preparations to host the COP27 United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022 at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November, Egypt’s official news agency MENA reported.

She will also meet with senior government officials involved in the COP27 process, the UN country team, as well as youth and civil society organizations, the UN spokesman’s office said.

According to the Ministry of International Cooperation, the event will be held under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

It is organized in cooperation with the ministries of foreign affairs and environment, as well as the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

The Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the Forum’s objectives are in line with the upcoming climate summit’s main goal to implement commitments and the pledges in all sectors of the climate change agenda, whether it’s in adaptation, mitigation or finance, loss and damage.

The forum sets three main objectives, namely mobilizing resources and facilitating access to finance, financing the mitigation and adaptation agenda to climate change, and discussing national efforts and measures for Africa’s transformation into a Green Economy.

Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania al-Mashat held talks on Saturday with Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker.

Discussions touched on the projects included in the energy theme at the National Platform for Green Projects and Climate Action and the “Nowfi” program, as well as the steps taken so far in this regard.

The program is the link between food, water projects and energy, and aims to mobilize concessional development finance, technical support, and investments by the private sector for a package of priority green development projects within the framework of Egypt’s 2050 Comprehensive National Climate Strategy.

The two ministers discussed the continuous coordination with development partners, launching the program’s national platform with the participation of all multilateral and bilateral development partners, briefing them with the details of the projects, and engaging in discussions on cooperation proposals in each of the projects listed in the energy sector.

They underlined the importance of energy within Nowfi, in light of Cairo’s vision and goal to transform the country into a regional energy hub by implementing key development projects in the renewable energy sector.

Cairo also aims to expand the green hydrogen sector, implement legislative and structural reforms that attract foreign investment and soft development finances in this vital sector.

The efforts made since 2014 and the launching of the Sustainable Energy Strategy have contributed to attracting soft development finances and private sector investments and implementing pioneering projects such as the Benban Solar Power Plant and other projects.



Israel's Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures

File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)
File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)
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Israel's Top General Resigns over Oct. 7 Failures

File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)
File Photo: A solidarity rally for Israeli hostages with Hamas in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (AFP)

Israel's army chief Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday he would resign on March 6, taking responsibility for the massive security lapse on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas gunmen from Gaza carried out a cross-border attack on Israel.

Halevi, who had been widely expected to step down in the wake of the deadliest single day in Israel's history, said he would complete the Israel Defense Forces' inquiries into Oct. 7 and strengthen the IDF's readiness for security challenges. It was not immediately clear who would replace Halevi, who said he would transfer the IDF command to a yet-to-be-named successor.

Despite public anger over Oct. 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has resisted calls to open a state inquiry into its own responsibility for the security breach that resulted in 1,200 Israelis killed and about 250 hostages taken.

"On the morning of Oct. 7, the IDF failed in its mission to protect the citizens of Israel," Halevi wrote in his resignation letter to Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Israel, he added, paid a heavy price in terms of human lives and those kidnapped and wounded in "body and soul."

"My responsibility for the terrible failure accompanies me every day, hour by hour, and will do so for the rest of my life," said Halevi, a military veteran of four decades.

Halevi was in lockstep with former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who was fired by Netanyahu in November, and at loggerheads with some ministers over military conscription exemptions given to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.

A number of senior military officers have already resigned over the failures of Oct. 7, and the head of the military's Southern Command, Major-General Yaron Finkelman, also announced he would be resigning.

After 15 months of war in Gaza, the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Hamas went into effect on Sunday, with three hostages being released among a planned 33 in the next six weeks. Some 94 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, though some may have since died in captivity.

HARDLINERS RAPPED HALEVI'S CONDUCT OF GAZA WAR

Katz thanked Halevi for his contributions to the military and that he would continue to fulfill his duties until a successor is named, while there would be an orderly search for his replacement. Netanyahu also accepted Halevi's resignation.

Halevi was often criticized by hardliners in Netanyahu's government including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said his conduct of the war in Gaza was too soft.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict since October 2023 and the heavily built-up territory has been widely demolished by Israeli bombardments and airstrikes.

Smotrich on Tuesday praised Halevi for the military's success in shattering Hamas' military capabilities during the war but also put blame on his shoulders for the Oct. 7 debacle.

"My criticism of his failure in the campaign to eliminate Hamas' civilian and governmental capabilities, as well as his responsibility for the October 7th failure, does not diminish the great gratitude we owe him for all his work and contributions over the years and his achievements," said Smotrich, who opposed the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

"The coming period will be marked by the replacement of the senior military command as part of preparations for the renewal of the war, this time in the West Bank until complete victory."

Halevi said that despite the failings of Oct. 7, Israel had notched many military achievements since then which had "changed the Middle East".  

He pointed to Israel's military degradation of Hamas that had created conditions for returning hostages, its "unprecedented" damage inflicted on Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, a significantly weakened Iran, and its destruction of significant parts of Syria's military.